The Bottom Line on KCLR

The stresses and strains of everyday life can be challenging and it is easy to become overwhelmed. Michael Demetriou, Performance and Wellness Coach at Thrive Together Coaching spoke to John about the importance of self-awareness, understanding how you can look after your health and stay productive. 

Cyber security threats are an issue that most of us will have to deal, be it through phone calls, emails or text messages. With the scams and schemes being constant and increasingly more sophisticated, we spoke with Paul Delahunty, Chief Information Security Officer at Stryve about the simple ways that we can protect ourselves from becoming victims of cyber crime.

In this episode of The Bottom Line, Gerry Rafter of Rafter's Gastro Pub chats to John about what it meant to be named as "Small Business of The Year" at the Kilkenny Business Awards and being in business for over a quarter of a century.

To chat through some of the business news making the headlines this week, John was joined by Laura Slattery Media Correspondent at The Irish Times. For two years we’ve had a pandemic and now we’re in what the Taoiseach has characterised as a “War Economy”, all these issues combined with many other things in our lives means it is very easy to become overwhelmed.  Michael Demetriou, Performance and...

In this episode of The Bottom Line we bring you an extended interview with Philip and Miriam Cushen, the father and daughter team who are   the fifth and sixth generation of their family running Cushendale Woollen Mills.  It was recently announced that Cushendale Woollen Mills will represent Kilkenny at this years National Enterprise Awards which will take place in Dublin's Mansion House in June.

During the week, HaloCare Group, the company founded by Carlow entrepreneur David Walsh announced the appointment of new Chief Executive Sarah-Jane O'Dwyer.  Someone who is no stranger to business success having worked in a range of roles which have brought her all around the world, Sarah-Jane joined John to chat more about the organisation and her new role. We wanted to bring you the story of a b...

In this bonus episode of The Bottom Line we hear an extended interview with Economist Jim Power. Jim spoke to John about the recently released final Gross Domestic Product and economic growth numbers for 2021 and what this data can tell us about the Irish economy. Jim tells us about modified domestic demand which tries to capture what consumers are doing, spending and taxation as well as investmen...

Jim Power chatted to John about the final GDP and Economic growth numbers for 2021 which were released last Friday. Jim also spoke about the events in Russia and Ukraine and what the potential implications may be. Stryve is a Carlow based company formed in January 2019 when two local companies T2 and VCloud came together. Andrew Tobin, CEO of Carlow Company Stryve spoke with John about his compani...

Filling in for John Purcell on The Bottom Line this week was Edwina Grace, who spoke with Minster of State for Heritage and Electoral Reform Malcolm Noonan. Minister Noonan joined Edwina to tell us more about the recently published Town Centre First Policy and what this new strategy will mean for our local towns throughout the two counties. With Invoice Redirect Fraud being a constant threat to bu...

"Twenty Questions" on The Bottom Line is our monthly feature where we ask our guest twenty questions that have been designed to give you an insight into the individual outside of their role in business. Our latest guest was Marion Acreman, Centre Manager at MacDonagh Junction Shopping Centre.

Brendan Cullen is Managing Director of SurveryGuru, a market research company based in Kilkenny. Through his work with SurveryGuru, he found that small business owners needed help with becoming more productive which prompted him to write his short book " Get Off The Hamster Wheel: The Smart Small Business Owner's Productivity Bible - How to Calmly achieve more, despite overwhelming demands on your...

With the tourism and hospitality sector being one of the biggest economic drivers for Carlow and Kilkenny, John spoke with Brian O ‘Flynn, Head of Irelands Ancient East at Fáilte Ireland about the organisations priorities for 2022, the challenges of staff shortages and retention, and the opportunities that lie ahead.

To take a look at some of the business news stories from the week as well as to discuss the issues facing business and the economy, John was joined by Garrett Harte, Managing Director of Harte Media. With the tourism and hospitality sector being one of the biggest economic drivers for the region, John spoke with Brian O ‘Flynn, Head of Irelands Ancient East at Fáilte Ireland about the organisation...

Over the last two years Health and Safety has been at the fore, with masks, hand sanitiser, contact tracing, social distancing, screens, and temperature checking forming part of the daily routine for almost every business that has kept its doors open. Since the lifting of Covid restrictions, the guidance around health and safety has now changed. Margaret Kirby of Health and Safety Review spoke wit...

Rita Shanahan owner of Lorimat Jewellers chatted to John about business over the last two years, how lockdowns prompted her to offer their Home Try-on Service, a new concept to their business which allowed customers to try on engagement rings at home. Rita also chats about the changing retail landscape and laboratory grown diamonds.

Laura Slattery, Media Correspondent with The Irish Times, joined John to chat through some of the business stories that were making the headlines this week. Over the last two years Health and Safety has been at the fore, with masks, hand sanitiser, contact tracing, social distancing, screens, and temperature checking forming part of the daily routine for almost every business that has kept its doo...

Michael O Boyle, Chief Executive of Cycling Solutions Ireland spoke with John about his mission to make business and society more cycle friendly and in the process unlock the huge potential with new ways of thinking about this popular and environmentally friendly mode of transport.

Economist Jim Power spoke with John about how January 2022 has been going so far from the removal of Covid restrictions; recently released retail sales data to the topic of Inflation & interest rates. Neil McDonnell, CEO of ISME spoke with John about the SME sector and what the post lockdown future looks like. Neil also spoke with John about the Right to Request Remote Work Bill 2021 which was...

The Central Bank of Ireland is the State Institution charged with maintaining price and financial stability in the Irish economy. As a part of the ECB it also inputs into decisions about interest rates and other important economic policy matters. Gabriel Makhlouf, Governor of the Central Bank who also sits on the Board of the European Central Bank, spoke with John about meeting with the local busi...

This week on the Bottom Line on KCLR, John Purcell was joined by Morwenna Coniam, Dublin Bureau Chief at Bloomberg News to chat through some of the big business stories. The big story of the week came from the announcement by Government on Friday evening that almost all Covid restrictions would be lifted from 6am on Saturday morning.   The Central Bank of Ireland is the State Institution charged w...

The B!g Idea is a multi award winning project launched by Founder Kim MacKenzie-Doyle in 2021. The programme teaches critical thinking and creative problem solving aimed at inspiring the next generation to take on new challenges. Kim joined John to tell us more about the organisation and how people in industry can get involved by becoming a mentor.

In our first episode of The Bottom Line on KCLR for 2022, John was joined by Samantha McCaughren, Business Editor of the Sunday Independent to chat through some of the business news and issues that have been making the headlines over the past few weeks. John Ryan, Owner of The Pembroke hotel located in Kilkenny City, spoke with John about the restrictions that have continued to impact on the touri...

"Twenty Questions" is our feature piece where we literally ask our guest twenty questions which have been designed to give you an insight into the person outside of their role in business.  Our latest guest was Yvonne O'Toole, Communications Lead at MSD.

In our last episode of The Bottom Line for 2021, John was joined by Economist Jim Power to take a look back through 2021. Duncan Graham, Managing Director of Retail Excellence Ireland, spoke with John about the retail sector and how it has coped during 2021 and what the future looks like for retail. "Twenty Questions" is our feature piece where we ask our guest twenty questions designed to give yo...

In recent weeks the Government announced the commencement a dedicated rescue process for small companies, the act seeks to simplify and reduce the costs for small businesses who are experiencing difficulties. Minister Robert Troy TD is the Minister of State with responsibility for Trade Promotion, Digital and Company Regulation at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and he joined Jo...